Telstra testing 4G tech with 450Mbps speeds?

Telstra wants to speed things up. A lot.

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While most Australians catch up to the current bare-bones 4G networks available in Australia, a new report is claiming that Telstra is currently trialling LTE-A technology that would allow for downloads speed up to 450Mbps in "certain conditions".

Although we knew that Telstra has been trialling LTE-A for its 4G network already, 450Mbps is a lot higher than what it had said about speeds on its "next generation" mobile network – which would be theoretical speeds up to 150Mbps using Cat4 devices.

The Australian Financial Review says this information comes from a strategy briefing that it had obtained, which stated that it would using carrier aggregation technology to push mobile download speeds to an astonishing 450Mbps.

Next-gen 4G

The telco has already revealed that for its LTE-A network, the company is using carrier aggregation that basically glues two spectrums (the 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrum bands) together to create a broader channel for data to travel through.

Telstra is not the only carrier in the world trialling LTE-A technology, with SK Telecom in South Korea also developing its LTE-A network.

Telstra has also previously said that it will use the 700MHz spectrum band when it frees up in 2015, and pair it with the 1800MHz band to deliver speeds "nearing 300Mbps" – which is still not quite near the 450Mbps this new report is claiming.

Of course, with the speed being achieved in "certain conditions", it may not reach these speeds for every day, real-world use any time soon, not even in 2015.